The May Backlash show is now a split-brand affair with both Raw and SmackDown Live Superstars scheduled to appear at the event. Some have made informed speculations that this could be the case from here on out which might mean WWE is shying away from each brand having their own unique identity once more. Therefore, things could go back to the way they used to be in a sense after WrestleMania.
“The official word from WWE is that an announcement is forthcoming imminently, very soon to address the answer to this question which to me means it’s probably happening,” Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio concerning WWE moving to one split-brand pay-per-view a month.
Meltzer noted that ticket sales haven’t been that great for split-brand shows but the key is that there is so long between pay-per-views that it was slowing down the booking because fans had to wait up to two months at times to see a match come to fruition at a pay-per-view.
The idea is that by 2019 WWE could be back to one pay-per-view a month. The negative of this change would be that not as many Superstars will get their chance to perform on pay-per-view events.
When it comes to WWE possibly changing upcoming pay-per-views to four-hour shows Meltzer said, “I’m scared to death of that by the way. Because of having to fit so many guys on the roster. Because now you’re talking about you can’t get all your championships. Before on the brand-specific pay-per-views, you would get all your championships out and maybe one or two matches that would fit in the whole thing. Now you’ve got two world titles and they’re on the same pay-per-view and that’s kinda silly every month. You’ve got the US and Intercontinental so that’s four, you’ve got the two women’s so that’s six, and you’ve got the two tag teams that makes 8, and you’ve got the Cruiserweight that makes nine. So essentially unless you’re in a championship match you’re probably not gonna get on a pay-per-view unless it’s some gimmick match.”
It was also pointed out how WWE might add more matches to their events, therefore, they will possibly have more time on a pay-per-view unless the matches on the card will be shorter to allow for all of the performers to get their time which will affect match quality.
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News from The Wrestling Observer website was used in this post. For more on this story please visit WrestlingObserver.com. Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez’ WrestlingObserver.com is the leading source for professional wrestling news. Click here for subscription information. Members get exclusive access to insider news from Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez, daily audio shows, breaking news audio, the Wrestling Observer newsletter, newsletter archives, thousands of hours of archived radio shows, and much more.
